Leaving: BBC arts presenter Mark Lawson has announced he is leaving Radio 4's Front Row programme after 16 years for 'personal reasons'

BBC arts presenter Mark Lawson has announced he is leaving Radio 4’s Front Row programme after 16 years for ‘personal reasons’.

His surprise departure comes just a month after the station’s arts unit, which makes the programme, was embroiled in a bullying row although is not known whether the events are connected.

In a statement today, the 51-year-old said: ‘The BBC and I have agreed that I should step down as presenter of Front Row and for personal reasons I shall be taking a break from live daily radio journalism.’

He added: ‘It has been an extraordinary experience and privilege to work on the programme for 16 years and I very much hope to be able to return to work on Radio 4 in the future.’

Mr Lawson’s decision to step down was met with surprise by Front Row’s listeners yesterday.

Since the flagship evening programme started in 1998, Mr Lawson claims he has conducted more than 3,000 interviews, many of them with celebrities such as Dame Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro and Woody Allen.

A new series of the presenter’s BBC Four interview show, Mark Lawson Talks To..., is scheduled to start next week.

Today, a BBC spokesman confirmed his departure, saying: ‘He has been away from the programme for a month on medical advice.

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'Front Row will continue to be presented by John Wilson and Kirsty Lang, alongside other guest presenters such as Tom Sutcliffe.’

Success: Since the flagship programme started in 1998, Mr Lawson claims he has conducted more than 3,000 interviews. Above, the presenter (right) is pictured with author James Ellroy at London's Southbank Centre

Guests: He has interviewed the likes of actress Dame Helen Mirren (left) and U.S. actor Robert de Niro (right)

The controller of Radio 4, Gwyneth Williams, added: ‘Mark has been an outstanding presenter of Front Row and we hope to work with him again in the future on Radio 4.’

Today, BBC news reports about Mr Lawson’s departure prominently mentioned bullying complaints at the BBC’s Radio Arts Unit, which makes programmes including Front Row, Saturday Review and The Film Programme.

However, there has been no suggestion Mr Lawson was involved in the incidents in any way and the BBC has refused to comment on the allegations.

Venture: A new series of the presenter's BBC Four interview show, Mark Lawson Talks To..., starts next week

Filming: Above, Mr Lawson began his career as a TV critic for the Catholic newspaper The Universe in 1984. Above, the presenter is pictured in Washington, U.S., recording the BBC 2 programme, The Clinton Complex

In January, it was revealed the corporation had launched an investigation after 15 members of staff at the arts unit accused a presenter and a producer of bullying.

An email from the corporation’s human resources department reportedly said there were allegations of ‘a culture of bullying and a failure of management to protect staff’, although it did not name any individuals accused of bullying.

Last year, director general Tony Hall pledged a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to bullying following a damaging report by Dinah Rose QC in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Co-stars: Front Row will continue to be presented by John Wilson (left) and Kirsty Lang (right), said the BBC

Mr Lawson, who studied English at University College London, began his career as a TV critic for the Catholic newspaper The Universe in 1984 before moving to the Sunday Times and then the Independent.

He went into television by making a series of one-off arts documentaries before he was hired by BBC Radio 4 when it rebranded its arts show from Kaleidoscope to Front Row in 1998.

In 2010, actor Russell Crowe stormed out of the Front Row studio after Mr Lawson suggested the new Zealander’s accent in the film Robin Hood sounded Irish.